One of the things I love about prolonged stays in new locations is discovering off-the-path things. Today, exactly one week before I have to leave, I found what may be the best view of Paris I’ve ever seen. All in a place I’ve been to many, many times: Printemps.

Originally, we wanted to eat at under the dome, but the wait was over forty minutes. Luckily, the hostess told us about the Terrace Cafe. Because it’s located in the “Home” building of the Printemps complex, we’d never heard of it, but we trekked over to the other building and up to the ninth floor. Upon stepping off the escalator, Bug and I were disappointed. The Dome restaurant has sit down service and this was…a cafeteria?

Since we were all starving, we decided to give it a shot and took the boys out onto the terrace to find a seat.

WHOA.

The first thing I saw was this:

While it looks tiny in this picture, in person, it feels so close you can touch it.

Next was this:

The Opéra and Printemps famous dome.

There were also views of the Champs Élysées, Sacré Couer, the Panthéon, Musée d’Orsay, and a million other things. It was like being in the heart of Paris, with everything within reach. And the food was very good. Not as good as the Dome, but still tasty.

7:30am – Wake up. The Fox has a follow-up doctors appointment to make sure his arm is healing properly.

8:15am – Bug and The Fox leave, the other two boys and I think about breakfast.

8:20am – I send the boys to the patisserie for torsade and pain au chocolate. None of which I can eat 😦

9am – Shower and get dressed.

9:30am – Work a little while the boys play.

10:45 – Bug and the Fox return with good news! His arm is healing perfectly and he can fly home next week!

12:00pm – Leave for lunch

12:30 -3:00 – Lunch and shopping. We had to buy a LARGE suitcase because we’ve completely replaced my wardrobe while here. There’s a chance we may have to buy another.

3:15 – BUSTED by the Paris Metro Police for fare jumping. Boone didn’t use his ticket to get into the Metro and upon exiting, there was a checkpoint. Even though we had unused, paid tickets, we were still fined 30 euro on the spot. HARSH.

3:45 – Home. Bug does a little work and then we hang out while the boys play.

5:00pm – Bug goes to the grocery store while I play with the boys and swear at my phone because my email isn’t working.

6:30pm – Dinner for the boys. Wine for mom and dad 😀

7:00pm – Bug and the boys play poker while I work a little more.

8:00pm – Boys to bed, dinner for the adults.
This may be my new favorite picture: